When combat breaks out, time seems to slow down and every moment counts. Combat is broken down into rounds, each round represents roughly six seconds of action, or ten rounds a minute.
Who goes first in a fight is determined by Initiative. In Superhero Express, this works by each side deciding the order that they go. One side picks someone to act, then the other side picks someone to act until they run out.
Generally heroes (PCs) go first unless there’s a reason, which the GM will let you know about.
During a round of combat, a character can do three things in any order: One Action, A Move, and a free Interaction.
An Action is either an attack or other use of their Abilities. This might be setting up a shot, hacking the enemy mainframe, fixing broken equipment, or healing a fellow player. It also might be brawling with the enemy.
A Move is what it sounds like, putting yourself where you want to be. Superhero Express isn’t strict about distances or moves, but the GM might not allow you to move through enemies or take another impossible action. If you choose to forgo your Action, you can take a double Move. You can’t forgo your move for double Action.
A free interaction is something that you wouldn’t normally need to roll for during the game, such as grabbing an object, opening a door or a quick communication. As long as the action isn’t opposed (eg someone on the other side of the door), you can take a free interaction during your round.
On an attack, the attacker and defender both roll. This roll works a lot like a STAR check except that it’s against one another.
A character in Superhero Express may attack either an object or another character. Active characters can attempt to resist attacks through Defense or Armor. When the attack succeeds, it’s in the form of Stress. That might be physical stress, mental stress, etc.
When you’re attacked, you will roll a Defense roll, which is a d20 and a Defense bonus. If you’re hit, the damage may go to Armor (if you have any) or will turn into Stress, which counts against your Stamina.
Your Defense is how difficult you are to hit. Your Defense is calculated by your Agility ranks and any additional Ability ranks relevant to the situation. You might have several Abilities that are applicable in a situation, so your Defense is more like a bonus than a single number; it fits the situation.
If multiple defense-related abilities might fit a situation, it’s up to you to choose which one, as they don’t generally stack.
Some characters have Armor that provides them some leeway when hit. Armor is an Ability that provides a buffer between damage dealt and Stress taken. If an attack's damage is equal to or less than your Armor, you don’t take Stress, and your Armor doesn't decrease.
When damage exceeds your Armor, your Armor drops by that amount and any excess comes through as Stress. For example, if your Armor is 5 and you take 8 damage, you take 3 Stress and your Armor drops to 2.
Stress = Damage - ArmorNew Armor = Current Armor - StressIn the case of a Critical Success, damage is dealt without being prevented or reduced by the presence of Armor.
Armor usually comes back between encounters, unless you’ve got something that recharges it sooner such as Regeneration, or pending an in-game situation preventing you from being able to recover your Armor.
Armor is also specific to a damage type. For example, physical Armor won’t protect someone from a psychic attack, and Mind Shield won’t stop a bullet.
Defending against a Psychic attack works a little differently than a physical attack. Instead of Agility, you use Will for your Defense. For Armor, an ability such as Mind Shield would provide that ability.
To inflict Psychic damage, you need to purchase an Ability that gives you Psychic attacks.
During Combat, your damage accrues as Stress, which reduces your Stamina. Stress may be physical or psychic. If your Stamina reduces to 0, you are Out. Some types of damage are easier to shake off than others. Your GM will let you know how much Stamina you recover.
When you are Out, you go unconscious.
If you are knocked unconscious, you may spend a Drama Point to have Second Wind, which wakes you up and brings your Stamina to twice your Will. See [Drama Points](Drama Points).
In combat, do you go in cautiously or guns-a-blazing? This is reflected in Stances. Stances are used in combat to represent your approach to the fight, Offensive or Defensive.
By default, you take a Balanced stance. This gives you equal footing for both attacks and Defense.
If you want to take a more Attack-friendly stance, you take an Offensive stance. This gives you Advantage on your Attack rolls, and Disadvantage on your Defense rolls.
If you want to take a more Defense-friendly approach, you can take a Defensive stance, which gives you Advantage on Defense rolls, but Disadvantage on Attack rolls.
| Stance | Effect |
|---|---|
| Balanced (default) | No effect |
| Offensive | Advantage on Attack, Disadvantage on Defense |
| Defensive | Advantage on Defense, Disadvantage on Attack |
During combat, a player may spend a Drama Point to give them Overdrive. In a combat context, this will give you Advantage to Hit and 2x your damage. See [Drama Points](Drama Points) for more ways to use Drama Points.
Characters in SE have a Power Level. This is what separates a street thug from a cosmic threat. If you are fighting a character with a significantly higher power level than you have in a given area, your GM may say that the character is invulnerable to your attack. This is commonly known as the Galactus vs My Italian Grandma question. That doesn’t mean the enemy is unbeatable, but you may have to find a different approach.
Superhero Express combat is dynamic, so don’t limit yourself to simple attacks. You might think about a way to grapple, stun, or knock out an enemy in a unique way, and SE is here for it! Just work with your GM and if you succeed, they’ll work on both the narrative and mechanical consequences.
Keeping with the tradition of comic book adventures, death is not covered by Superhero Express, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Character death is left to the adjudication of the GM.
A character may have weapons. In the case of a weapon attack, the damage dealt is swapped from Might to the damage of the Weapon.
This chart gives some example weapons
| Weapon | Damage |
|---|---|
| Knife/Improvised Sharp | 2 |
| Club/Bat | 2 |
| Arrow | 3 |
| Pistol | 3 |
| Rifle/Shotgun | 4 |
| Machine Gun | 5 |